Shanghai-Style Noodle Soup

As many of you are aware, I absolutely LOVE to travel. This is one reason why I have chosen to eat so well. There are just too many spectacular places on this earth to encounter in one lifetime. I do not have the time to get sick. I want to remain healthy and energetic for as long as I can so that I can experience all the wonders of this beautiful world.

Last Thursday I had the opportunity to accompany my husband to Shanghai for the weekend. Yes, the weekend. I know it’s a long flight (14 hours) and my time there not as long as I would like, but I gladly accepted the offer. Seeing the world in short spurts will suffice for now.

During my short stay, I fell in love with Chinese Noodle Soup. Actually, I became addicted to this meal and had it for breakfast and dinner on all 3 days. When I returned home, I was to sure to stop by the grocery store for its ingredients. I wanted to share this simple, warming, and aromatic dish with my children. Their reaction – “Mom you should make this more often!!”. I think I might just do that.

In a large soup bowl, add cooked rice noodles. Ladle broth and vegetables into bowl over noodles. Add a handful of bean sprouts to bowl and stir soup.

Add a dash or two of soya sauce if desired.

* China is the world’s largest edible mushroom producer. A bowl of noodle soup in Shanghai contains such a vast array of mixed mushrooms (shitake, tree oyster, chanterelle, and black trumpets, just to name a few – some of which I had never had the pleasure of tasting until this visit. Try not to settle for white button mushrooms. I found a wonderful bag of locally grown assorted dried mushrooms in a nearby natural food store. What a wonderful flavour it brought to this soup!

Mushrooms are high in fiber, high in protein and contain B vitamins. They are considered the “meat” of the vegetable world. I think I may become a mycophagist! 😉

Living in the UK, in major cities especially, and without the benefit of foraging/basic woodland education in primary schools we definitely forget that there are a huge variety of edible mushrooms, mostly thinking of them as ‘poisonous’. Every time I watch an anime and they’re eating a a vegetable dish they show lots of different mushrooms and I think to myself ‘I’d love those!’ Especially as some of the ones they have commonly are ‘super foods’ and hard to get here.

Thank you for your comment! I really do find mushrooms fascinating! They are so odd looking, yet so tasty and nutritious. I read, too, that some varieties are very high in calcium and iron. I really must make a point of using them more often in my cooking. I’ll become a fungivore!

Love your blog! Thanks for stopping by mine. As you can see, I couldn’t stop reading all your older posts as I checked yours out:) I’m fascinated that you got to go to Shanghai for a couple days…and I would have loved that soup too. I will try out the recipe…I’m thinking I saw an assorted mix of interesting mushrooms at Whole Foods.

Thank you, Julie! I love your blog, too! Your title is great! I love when I can accompany my husband on these short excursions. I try to go somewhere with him at least once a year, sometimes it’s twice. I think you’ll love the soup. I honestly felt like I was addicted to it while I was there! Crazy & it’s so simple to make.